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Environmental activists to rally against KeystoneXL project at LA City Hall

Molly Peterson

Julian Bond and Sierra Club executive director Michael Brune protest against Keystone XL Pipeline at Lafayette Park on February 13, 2013 in Washington, DC. Brune's arrest was the first in the Sierra Club's 120-year history. It came in advance of a massive rally spearheaded by the club. Leigh Vogel/Getty Images

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Hundreds of environmental activists will rally in downtown Los Angeles Sunday against the proposed Keystone pipeline to move heavy crude petroleum from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico.

The rally’s a satellite – one of dozens throughout the country – coordinated with the main event in Washington DC. Activists want to focus attention on one of the biggest climate-related decisions President Obama will make in his second term: whether to grant a permit to the Keystone XL project, which would move unrefined tar sands petroleum from North Dakota to Texas.

The president vowed to renew his attention to climate policy in his State of the Union address. A day later, 48 activists, including some from California, engaged in civil disobedience outside the White House.

This weekend, the group 350.org and the Sierra Club will follow up with a rally on the National Mall.

In Los Angeles, more than 90 organizations plan to turn out their supporters. Congressman Henry Waxman, LA city councilman Jose Huizar and actor Ed Begley Jr. will speak at the event. It starts at 1 p.m.

Previously in Pacific Swell

KPCC's Molly Peterson on a Gilligan's Island style tour of environmental stories in and affecting Southern California. Named for the Yvor Winters poem: "The slow Pacific swell stirs on the sand/Sleeping to sink away, withdrawing land..."
Follow the blog at @PacificSwell and Molly at @KPCCmolly.